


Love in an Elevator

by Sylenis



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Babies, Baby Daddy is Some Rando Who Doesn't Matter, F/M, Modern AU, Single Parent AU, cw for pregnancy and labor, tropey, vet Keith
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:40:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27151904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sylenis/pseuds/Sylenis
Summary: Keith's day off wasn't supposed to go like this
Relationships: Keith/Pidge | Katie Holt
Comments: 20
Kudos: 74





	1. Week 35

**Author's Note:**

> Been playing with a few single parent AUs in the chat and this one has received the most love and tending to, along with 7k words. 
> 
> Wanted to style it like those "5 times X met Y and 1 time they Z" but like... not entirely like that. But each part will be a different time Keith and Pidge's paths meet, either by chance or deliberately.
> 
> Don't @ me about the title

☆  
  
Days off with Lance in the apartment didn't really count as 'days off', Keith had decided.  
Their schedules didn't often line up, but today they had and Keith had been treated to an array of strange perfumes wafting through the air, coloured condensation spiraling around the bathroom and glitter in the bathtub.

"It's called self-care, try it sometime!" Lance had drawled back without removing his cream-slathered face from the fridge when Keith had tried to call him out on it.

Keith also didn't really care for Lance's particular brand of "self-care" soundtrack. The music had been blaring since he'd returned from his run this morning, and a headache was definitely starting.  
Fuck it, he had to get out of the apartment. It was early afternoon - too early for Shiro to be off-duty, but maybe he could kick back somewhere quiet for a while, order a coffee and send Shiro a message to see if he wanted to hang out after his shift at the hospital.

He slung on his coat and headphones out of habit. Keys, phone, bag, shoes. He shouted to Lance he was leaving and heard a grumble in response as he locked the door behind him.

The halls were empty, and blissfully quiet as he made his way down them. 

The elevator was not empty; the girl inside seemed exasperated at the extra stop, scowling as he stepped in. Keith vaguely thought he might recognize her, maybe she lived a couple floors above him? Short, thick curls were sprouting every which way from under her hat and her black-rimmed glasses caught the artificial light as she swayed and fidgeted. He thought he could even hear her grumbling through his headphones and he chanced another glance. Her teeth were gritted and as he looked closer she was sweating. She was checking her phone every second and he paused.

"Are... are you OK, miss?"  
"Peachy! Just peachy." She glared up at him. She was tiny, the beanie on her head barely reached past his chest, and as she braced her hands on her lower back, her puffy coat shifted and he realised- it wasn't just puffy, she was sporting an unmistakably round stomach under her jumper. 

The sweating, the scowling, the belly all suddenly clicked into place and the question was out before he could stop himself.  
"Shit- are you in labor?"

"Ding-ding-ding! And the prize money goes to..." She snapped back, then winced and blew out her cheeks. "Sorry. Yes. Somewhere in the first stage, I think. Contractions are a bitch."  
"Are you- do you need any help?" Keith honestly didn't have any experience with pregnant people, and could feel himself starting to sweat too.   
"No, I'm fine- I've got a taxi waiting outside for-"

She was cut off as the elevator shuddered and the lights flickered and dimmed as it stopped.

"What the fuck?" The pregnant woman had grabbed the handholds as Keith opened his phone and held the torch up over his head.   
"Power outage- there should be backup power though- there-"  
Low lights flickered back on but the elevator remained stationary. The woman was looking back and forth between the elevator walls as if they would provide answers.  
"I thought elevators were supposed to have backup power! Like, enough to take us the rest of the way down?"

"This thing was probably last maintained in 1995." Keith kicked at the sealed doors and immediately regretted it when he sensed her flinch behind him. "I'm sure it'll be back on in a moment."  
"No, no, no this can't be happening! I had a plan!" She was cut off mid-rant with a long drawn-out whine and hand under her belly. "That's three- definitely three minutes- oh God I can _not_ have a baby in an elevator!"

"You won't." Keith said hurriedly, peering up at his phone- no signal. "The power will come back."

She leaned back against the corner of the elevator, one arm slung over the handrail and the other under her stomach, "I can't do this- I can't- I can't breathe. Can't..."  
Her gasps started coming in short sharp little puffs. Loud and hoarse with attempts at words mixed in but nonsensical. Keith floundered- his own breath felt short in the dim orange lights. He wasn't the best at consoling owners at work; it was his patients he was better with. Something Lance often made fun of him for, and it wasn't going to help him now. 

Get out of the house - relax - enjoy his day off- he had not planned on delivering a baby to a hysterical woman in a cramped elevator. How long was labor for humans anyway? Did they have time to wait?

Come on, surely the power would come back any second- being cooped up in this small metal box was getting less fun by the second, and the stress rolling off his fellow prisoner in waves was practically slapping him in the face.

"OK, OK." Keith groped in his bag, pulled out his bottle of water and took her arm to ease her down onto the floor. "Sit for a minute and drink this. What's your name?"  
"Pidge- it's... Pidge." She panted, face flushed as she took the bottle from him.  
"OK, Pidge. I'm Keith. You're gonna be OK, just breathe with me." 

She looked up, trying to match his deliberate breaths even as her shoulders were shaking and sweat beading her temples behind her glasses.  
"You seem- REALLY calm. I don't suppose-" Pidge said between inhales, "I got lucky and you're some sort of medic?"

Oh, God he was anything but calm right now.

"Vet, actually." Keith prompted, and she started to laugh, albeit with a slightly frantic edge to it. Her head hit the back of the wall as she looked up at him.  
"Great- _wonderful_ \- I'll call you when I'm having kittens." She huffed, and Keith raised an eyebrow.  
"How come you didn't go to the hospital sooner?"  
"I'm not due for another five weeks. I thought it was Braxton Hicks. Been- been- ow- been pacing all day."  
"Shit. Alright. Look, your taxi's probably left but as soon as we get signal I'll call an ambulance."

"And if we don't- if there's no signal? If we're stuck in here? I'm preterm- I should be at a hospital, I can't have my baby in here-"  
"You won't." Keith said, though he wasn't sure who he was trying to convince. She groaned again, teeth gnashing together and her hand grabbed his and squeezed hard. He stared down at the outline of their hands in the dim light, and squeezed back.

"You won't. We'll get you out. If there's no signal for an ambulance, I'll drive you myself. And if we're stuck, well... I've supervised delivery of a lot of puppies, three litters of kittens and a set of fox cubs." 

God he sounded stupid, this was VERY different to watching over a mother fox.

"Fox cubs?" This seemed to pique Pidge's attention for a moment as her contraction ebbed, and he nodded.  
"Vixen came in after a car accident. She survived, and all three cubs too."   
"At least I'm stuck in an elevator with a _good_ vet, then." She sighed, lolling her head again and Keith huffed a short laugh.   
"Ah- signal!" He held up his phone in triumph and her illuminated face seemed to relax just a degree at the sight of the bar on his screen. 

He almost expected the cool voice of the operator to accuse him of pulling a prank- woman going into labor in a broken elevator just sounded like a dozen television drama storylines, but she promised help was on its way, telling him to stay on the line until EMTs could access them.

"How far apart are your contractions?" Keith repeated the operator's last question, a flush of embarrassment prickling over him and Pidge reached out for the phone to take over.  
"Hello? Yes- three minutes. Yes. Yes. No. Twenty-six. First child. Thirty-five weeks, two days."

Keith watched, slightly in awe as this strange tiny woman suddenly turned full business-mode on the phone, assuring the operator that no, the elevator was completely dead, yes, she'd been taking online classes on managing her pregnancy and labor. She paused again to yell this time, heaving breaths. " _Fuck,_ oh God I hate this!"

As her last groan faded, a hum started around them and the buttons on the elevator lit up properly to faint whoops of relief. Later Keith would work out the power outage had only lasted fifteen minutes, but thinking that he might have had to ruin his favourite jacket and get up close and personal with a stranger's undercarriage had made it feel like hours. 

He wasn't _quite_ sure how he ended up in the ambulance. One moment he'd been helping her very carefully to her feet as the elevator doors finally opened- the next the promised EMTs were swarming, around and behind him, bundling them into the back of an ambulance and his head was spinning with the current of voices and machinery and engines all swirling around him. From his angle up near her head he couldn't see what was going on down there, but he closed his eyes anyway. There was so much going on - urges not to push yet - reassurances the hospital was only a short while away away - numbers and readings between colleagues. It was too much. 

Silence only fell when an EMT tried to encourage a very shell-shocked Keith to come up to 'hold her hand and comfort her', and Pidge blurted out "I don't know this man."

"He- he was just in the elevator when it broke." She managed between breaths, and the air turned awkward. This clearly hadn't happened before to the now-muttering EMTs and at one point one said "Should we- like, stop? Let him out?"

 _"No_!" Pidge had pulled herself forwards to try and sit, arms around her stomach like she was hugging a basketball. "You can't boot him out in the middle of the road, that's stupid. Dude, I'm so sorry." She was addressing Keith now, her eyes seemed incredibly bright, amber coloured and completely focused on him even as she struggled to breathe normally. "Pass me - my phone, I'll get you a cab home on my account."

"Ma'am, you need to try and relax, don't move right now." The medics started trying to ease her back and Keith, chewing his lip, tentatively put a hand on her arm.  
"Is anyone coming to meet you there? At the hospital?"   
"My parents are out of state but my brother- shit- my brother! I was going to message him from the taxi, shit-shit, where's my phone?"

Keith ducked for her coat and rummaged in it for her phone as Pidge howled this time. God, those contractions were getting pretty close together. Was she going to have it in the ambulance?  
"His- his name is Matt, can you text him for me?" Her voice piped up, hoarse and fading in and out.

Keith swiped down to "M" in the contacts. No Matt. He ran a little further down until a name with "(the sib)" tacked on the end caught his eye.

"'Ponytail Lord'?" He called just as another contraction started, and Pidge managed another nod through gritted teeth and a loud growl.

Man, he'd really deserve a coffee after this. And maybe a stiff drink, he thought as he punched in a message to Ponytail Lord.

At the hospital this time they really were separated. Pidge was once again flanked by waiting staff and wheeled into the hospital. He stared up at the large doors where the luminescent lights had swallowed her up, even as the ambulance workers assured him she'd be OK.

"She'll probably have that kid in the hour."  
"More coherent than some of the first timers I've had in the back." One of them laughed as they turned to leave.

Well, that was that. She'd get put in a room, have her baby, her family and partner would eventually arrive, and she'd be OK, right?  
He looked down to his bag to check his phone and realised this sparkly green alien patterned case was not his. Also he was holding two bags.

Shit.

☆


	2. November 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Keith does a lot of thinking and time killing.

☆

_"Why are you like this?"_

Keith had heard these words a lot his whole life, and right now he was thinking these words to himself.

The woman at the desk had refused to take Pidge's bag; she had looked at him with a tired frustration when all he could tell her was the patient was "having a baby, and her name is Pidge.", lacking any sort of surname or room number. She'd made it clear that even with a full name, he clearly wasn't family and she was unable to give him any information.

She'd also refused to take the bag, claiming she 'wasn't a gym locker'.

Unsure of what to do next, Keith plonked himself into a chair in the waiting room and looked at the green phone. It was locked, but had lit up with message previews that showed on the lockscreen. The Brother had replied.

_-On my way-_

_-Big traffic. Accident on the interstate-_

_-gonna be a few hours-_

_-Please text when you can-_

It sounded like the Brother was going to be late. Without the passcode he couldn't reply.

Maybe he should open the bag, look for an ID or something that might have her apartment number on. Then he could drop the bag off at her door. 

...And hope it didn't get stolen.

The image of his mother's face if she found him going through someone's purse entered his head and he frowned, tapping on the back of the phone. 

He settled back in the chair, and waited.

This was dumb. This was very dumb. He still didn't have her full name. He had NO idea how long it would take for her to have her baby, or how to get her bag back to her. The brother would probably show up at some point but how would he recognize him? 

Perhaps the father of her child would sweep in like in a scene from a movie, frantic and demanding to see their partner. They'd be taken up to hold Pidge's hand and be there for the birth of their child. Was there even a partner? It was a little odd to him that she'd asked for her brother, above anyone else.

This was none of his business. He should go.

But... it was quiet. Quieter than his apartment had been. The invasive chemical smell didn't quite hit this corner of the waiting room and he could sit back, jacket off, headphones on and open a game on his phone. The game was giving him room to think, he told himself. Something to clear his mind until he could decide what to do next.

After three rounds, he texted Shiro. 

Shiro would be done in a couple of hours. _Good,_ Keith wrote back. He needed a drink and something greasy to eat. He can meet Shiro at the hospital. You know, seeing as he's already there.

Maybe Shiro would know how to locate Pidge, get her phone and bag to her.

No. He wasn't quite up for telling this story yet, never mind involving another stranger in this woman's day.

It hadn't really sunk in properly- he felt almost disconnected from his body- pins and needles in his fingers, echoes of Pidge's panting and flushed face and ambulance sirens playing out as though he was watching himself react from somewhere else.

Maybe that was why he was still sitting here, staring at the half-empty bottle of water he'd given her as if it wasn't really there.

He felt dizzy suddenly, and took a drink from the bottle, leaning his head back against the wall and closing his eyes for a moment. 

He got up. Left the waiting room and ventured outside the hospital. Outside the shadows were long, winter sun starting to dip low and the chill nipping at his bare hands. Fists shoved in his pockets and two bags slung over his shoulder, he crossed the street, ordered a sandwich and a coffee from a diner on the corner, and somehow his feet took him straight back to the hospital. 

He'd lost track of time in the waiting room, but seeing as Shiro was so close to finishing his shift, there was no point leaving, he told himself. 

The staff at the desk seemed to change over as he picked at crumbs on his sandwich wrapper. He took a deep breath, and opened Pidge's bag. He tried to let his gaze slide over the contents- headphones, keys, crumpled up papers- ah. Wallet. 

No driver's license. A photocard for what looked like a tech company. The name read Kate Holt.

Well, he had a surname now at least. Thinking on it, 'Pidge' was obviously a nickname... Or a fake name to stop him stalking her. Which now he'd gone through her things he was totally doing. 

He pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned inwardly at his own brain. It wasn't stalking if he was trying to return her belongings! And surely it must be normal to feel concern for someone you just witnessed screaming as if they were being stabbed from the inside?

Fuck, he couldn't take much more of this.

Keith stood up, bags gathered and made for the front desk again. As he neared the desk, a doctor leaned over to speak to the new woman behind the counter.

"-young woman up in M5 saying she's lost her bag? Says a man with dark hair and red hat might have brought it in-"

"That's me." Keith blurted, raising a hand as the staff both looked around at him. "Pi-Kate Holt, right? Is she OK?" 

"Are you family?" The doctor asked.

"Friend." Keith answered, learning from his previous mistake. "Look, her family is delayed getting here, so she's all alone right now, and I've got her bag here so she's even more cut off. Can I just bring her bag to her? Or just give it to you?"

The doctor pursed his lips, and then beckoned Keith to follow, clutching Pidge's bag to his chest. 

☆

Pidge was laid back in bed, propped up by pillows and idly fiddling with a TV remote. Without her hat her hair was matted with dried sweat, eyes rimmed with purple bags and an IV taped to a bony forearm.

"Hey stranger." Her drooping eyelids brightened when she saw him, looking a little surprised but pleased. "We have _got_ to stop meeting like this."

"Got you a gift." Keith held out her bag and phone; she took her phone and immediately unlocked it as Keith put the bag on the table next to her bed.

"You stayed all this time?"

"Gargoyle at the front desk wouldn't take your bag for you. And I think... I kinda needed to sit for a bit, I think I'm in shock."

"Poor dear," Pidge cooed with a flat look. "Can't imagine what it must be like, watching someone go through the utter agony of labor."

"Got me there." Keith stood awkwardly. There was a seat next to the bed, but really he shouldn't sit- he was just here to drop a bag off. 

There was nothing else really in the room- a tiny TV up in the corner of the upper wall, apparatus for her IV and the bed. Bare, clinical walls and bleached wooden door. At least she'd gotten a private room.

She seemed to notice his glances around the room and started picking at the stitching on her bedspread.

"She's in the NICU. Thirty-five weeks, they want to make sure she can regulate temperature, check lung capacity... They've said they can bring her to me later..."

She was smiling, but it was wobbly and there were tears in her eyes.

"Oh." Keith responded. He wasn't really sure what else to say. What could he say? Congrats on the baby, but sorry she can't spend time with them?

Pidge's phone started to chime, and he was glad for the distraction as she answered it, taking it as his cue to leave, until her face started to redden and her breathing turned shaky. 

"What? No- no, Matt. What do you mean? OK. OK. No, I'm OK. No, I forgot it. Of course I'm not mad, it's not your fault. Just promise you'll stop at the next services and get a room for the night- no, _no_!"

Keith stood in the doorway, watching her start to plead over the phone. His own phone pinged. Shiro would be ready in ten. He should go. But she was still talking a mile a minute.

"Matt, no- don't be rushing here all night! I'm fine, but I can't be worrying about you crashing on top of everything else! Matt? _Matt?_ Are you listening? I _know_ they forecast snow, that's why I want you to stop. Please, please. Thank you. Text me a photo of you IN the room so I know you're telling the truth... I love you too."

Her voice broke as she clicked the phone off, bringing up a hand to cover her mouth and hide a wobbling lip.

"Hey... Pidge?" 

Keith stepped back into the room and she turned her face away.

"Look, my buddy's gonna give me a lift from here... Can... can I- bring you anything? Phone charger? Magazines? I- we live in the same building, if you needed something from your apartment, I could get it. I promise I'm not a robber." He finished, and Pidge started to laugh behind her hand, thick with the tears she was holding back. 

"That's exactly what a robber would say!" She giggled, and Keith huffed a laugh of his own.

"There's a sandwich shop across the street that's pretty good."

"They got vegetarian options?"

"The grilled cheese was killer."

Pidge laughed again and shrugged. 

"I can't ask you for anything. I've already derailed your day completely."

"Listen, I left my apartment because of my roommate's terrible taste in music and scented moisturizers; anything is better than that right now. I could go back to the building and be back here with whatever you need in like, an hour? Hour and half?"

Pidge sucked on her teeth for a moment, watching him carefully. Her gaze was thoughtful, almost analytical. He'd gotten the feeling back in the elevator, that Pidge was a very practical, logical sort of person. Keith waited, a little shocked at himself for making the offer, but she was going to be stuck in hospital overnight, her family on the road, and her baby in another ward. It felt cruel to leave her with nothing, even if she was a stranger. 

"I had a hospital grab-bag by the door... For when I came in. I kinda forgot it."

"You need it?"

"It's got travel chargers, my pajamas... Some other stuff. I can ask my brother to swing by in the morning for it."

"It's fine, I can get it. Just by the door?"

Pidge nodded, and pulled her bag further up to rest on her chest where she laid.

"Promise you won't ransack my apartment?" She asked, keys in hand but balled up by her chest.

"Hey, you know my name, my profession, could probably pick me out in a lineup."

"Never mind a lineup, as soon as my legs work again I could probably kick your ass."

"Duly noted."

Pidge took his phone and started punching her number into it, along with her apartment number.

"Thanks, by the way... For staying."

"Beats getting roped into a spa day. Though maybe we could use it after today."

Pidge huffed a laugh and let her head flop back properly on her pillows.

"You're in the apartment right above mine." Keith raised an eyebrow as he looked at his screen. "Promise I'll be back soon."

Pidge nodded but didn't reply. She seemed to be flagging a little, wan and heavy-lidded again where she laid, and Keith wondered if she'd even be awake when he got back. 

☆

Shiro was waiting out by the front, frowning a little as Keith neared him.

"You OK? Gonna tell me why you're here at the hospital?"

"Honestly, I don't know if you're gonna believe me." Keith replied as they headed out for the car. "I got an errand to run, then I _really_ need a drink."

  
☆

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I already moderate comments, but if I get any more about the paternity of Pidge's child I will turn them off entirely. Frankly, receiving a comment reading "If James Griffin is the father I'll kill myself" is a little alarming.
> 
> (also, to the others, you don't know who I ship with Pidge, so please don't come into my inbox telling me who you hate. I'm completely pro-shipping and even if I also dislike the same ship as you, I still don't want to hear about it tbh. I like to hear about what people DO like and ship)


	3. Two Weeks Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two weeks later Keith meets the girl from the elevator again. And takes tupperware into his own hands the week after.  
> Bit of a long one.

☆

Keith didn't see Pidge again for two whole weeks. As promised he'd collected her grab-bag and slipped her keys inside, and staff had taken it this time as she'd been sleeping. He'd ended up crashing on Shiro's couch after staying up a little too late with drinks and retelling the whole thing.  
Lance had been bouncing in his seat at the kitchen island when he and Shiro got back to Keith's place the next morning.

"Oh man, you missed the power outage yesterday, everyone was going nuts- some chick had a baby in an elevator!"  
"Bullshit." Keith had responded, setting the toaster slider down with bread in it, and Lance had pouted at Keith's lack of interest.  
"No- Mrs. Anderson told me so-"

"She had her baby in the hospital" Keith said. "I was there in the elevator. I called an ambulance and went with her. I brought her her bag... And a sandwich."

"That's... Kinda weird." Lance pulled a face. "You followed some random girl all the way to the hospital? Creepy."  
"I think it was very kind." Shiro said lightly, helping himself to the jam in the overhead cupboards as Lance pulled faces. "She must have been pretty scared. Keith saw a stranger in need and stayed with her until he was sure she was OK. What if it was Rachel in that elevator? You'd want people to help her, right?"

"Well, when you put it like that..." Lance sighed, though Keith heard him grumble, " _-especially when Keith can never do anything wrong..._ " under his breath.

Keith had just rolled his eyes and poured his coffee. Without the added drama of childbirth in a public place, the topic had quickly been dropped, and he'd mostly forgotten about it.

Mostly. When he caught himself staring at his ceiling, wondering how he'd never managed to meet his upstairs neighbour before, he'd had to catch himself. He didn't know the people below him, or on his left. He sometimes greeted the old woman who lived opposite, and knew that the neighbours on the right liked country music, but that was about it. Keith usually kept to himself. One of the good things about living in a decent complex was people were usually pretty quiet. Usually.

He saw even less of other people when he worked late shifts, as he usually did as winter came in. There was always an uptick in accidents, abandoned animals and surprise litters it seemed. Keith didn't mind working the extra hours. He preferred animals to people as it was.

It usually meant that when he got off work in the early hours of the morning, the shops were mostly deserted and he had the aisles to himself. He was almost finished rearranging the eggs and bread into his bag at 3am and daydreaming about his bed when someone called his name.

"Keith!" He looked around, then down a little.   
It was Pidge, and he was struck once more by just how small she was. And bulky, due to the mini puffy purple parka strapped to her front.  
"Hi, Pidge."   
"Hey again. I'm glad I saw you- I was just thinking the last few days, I never got to say 'thank you' for... well, everything, I guess." She adjusted the tote bag of her own shopping, then grinned up at him. "So yeah, thank you."  
"You already thanked me." Keith responded, and she reddened a bit.  
"Oh, did I? Once I got to the hospital they gave me a lot of really good drugs. I really don't remember a lot of that evening... But you were there and I'm grateful."  
"Don't worry about it. This them?"

  
"Oh!" They both looked down at the bundle in her harness, and Pidge turned a little so he could catch a glimpse of fat little cheeks, long dark eyelashes over closed eyes, and a wisp of dark red hair like her mother's peeking out from her bobble hat. "Yeah, obviously. This is Cassiopeia. Or just Cassie."

"Like the constellation?" It was a bit of a mouthful but hey, who was Keith to judge?  
"Yes!" Her face lit up as they both headed for the exit.

  
Huh, guess they were now walking back to the complex together. Well... It was 3am, dark and cold. They'd fallen into step together easily, shopping bags swaying back and forth.

"She's cute. I mean, as far as I can tell, I don't know a lot about babies."  
"Oh, me neither." Pidge said, then blew out her cheeks at his puzzled look. "Come on, you've got to have noticed she didn't exactly seem planned." She whispered the last bit, as if worried the snoozing baby would understand her. "My life has just exploded into chaos. This is the first time I've left the house since getting home last week!"

"Seriously?"  
"Yeah, I'm wearing pajamas under my coat." Sure enough when he looked down, fleecy pants patterned with white rabbits were peeking out from under her coat. "She was grouchy and sleepy and I really needed some fresh air, and cereal."

"Shit."  
"Oh, it's fine, I can get deliveries, I was just going stir-crazy." Pidge answered quickly as they rounded the last crossing before their building. "I booked leave and some of my PTO for week 40- my last project's deadline was for week 38, to give myself some breathing room but then... Well, time waits for no baby, I guess."

"Have they been making you go into work?" Keith asked, nearly stopping in his tracks to stare at her.  
"I can work from home for some projects, and they gave me an extension, but yeah, I've been working and trying to balance everything since I got back. Soon as I finish this project, I can breathe a minute, focus on a routine for me and the kiddo."

Damn, check out Wonder Woman over here. Wonder Woman with bags under her eyes, the wired energy of someone on too little sleep and too much to do, and something tacky sticking part of her hair together.   
She faltered a little as they got to the elevator, but Keith pressed the button and she waited next to him. 

"Sounds like you've got a lot on your plate."  
"It's not so bad. My brother stayed a few days at the hospital and my parents drove me home, so I got some help for a bit... Honestly I mostly owe you about a million favors."

Keith shrugged, "Forget about it. Here's my floor."   
"Just if I can do anything for you ever..." Pidge rushed as Keith picked up his bag to leave, "I'm good with tech! Just text me, or I dunno- bang on your ceiling with a broom!"  
Keith laughed, and waved as he stepped out and the doors closed on his view of Pidge and Cassie.

☆☆

"Wow Hunk, this is a lot, even for you."  
"When I saw the guest numbers versus what they wanted me to make I tried to tell them to maybe cut down," Hunk placed another pile of Tupperware on the counter, "but you know, the customer is always right." His tone was jolly as always, but Keith picked up on the note of sarcasm underneath and smirked.  
"I'll take the van around some charities, see if they want anything you guys don't take."  
"You don't think maybe they need it more than us?" Keith folded his arms and leant back on the counter as Hunk checked labels.  
"Maybe, but I like to know my friends are taken care of too."

That stirred something in his brain as he chewed on the inside of his cheek.  
"Got anything vegetarian in there?"

Hunk looked up suddenly and Keith felt his cheeks turn pink as Hunk stared.  
"Vegetarian? You mean, for you?"  
"No, not for me."  
"Is Lance on a new health kick?"   
"No." Keith snapped back. "There's a... I have a friend in the building. They uh, mentioned they've been really busy at work, I just thought some quick and easy meals might help with time management."

"Man, I was gonna say that's super unlike you- I just brought you some doughballs from Saturday's birthday party, you'll like them- I swapped pepperoni for some chorizos, then I thought I'd try this new kind of cheese I got in, some garlic..."   
Hunk continued rattling ingredients off to himself as he dug in the bags, seemingly forgetting to ask more about this 'friend' and Keith breathed a sigh.

"Here." Hunk pulled out some tubs in a plastic bag. "It's mostly finger foods- got some cheese versions of the doughballs, then some little veggie pockets- think spring rolls, there's some pasta in there too. And cupcakes. Ingredients are all on the side, in case your friend has any allergies."  
"Thanks, Hunk." Keith slid them towards himself to check them out.

"This friend of yours, they cute?" Keith looked up at Hunk, leaning on the counter with one elbow, chin in his hand and wiggling his eyebrows at him.  
"Shut up." Keith threw an oven glove at his smirking face.

☆

It wasn't a big deal. It really wasn't. Hunk brought round leftovers from his job all the time. To him and Lance, sometimes the old lady across the hall. He often brought boxes of desserts for them to take into work. Charities and soup kitchens. This was no different.

He was just dropping off some food, like any good neighbour would.  
There was a faint crying behind the door of the apartment above his. He should come back another time. But he wasn't going to eat all this food he'd asked for.

He knocked.

There was a thump, and a muffled "fuck!" before the crying grew louder and the locks slid back.   
The door burst open and Pidge was there, fussing baby in one arm and- Keith's eyes suddenly found the upper frame of the door as he realised her top was open and hanging around her arms.

"Shit, fuck- Keith?" Pidge looked far different today- hair wild and greasy, clothes and brow rumpled and the surprised look she gave him now as she adjusted her top lacked any of the curiosity and warmth that it had the other day.

"What are you- what do you need?" She hitched the baby further up her body as a fresh whimper rose anew, and Keith held up the canvas shopping bag.

"I... brought you some food."  
Pidge narrowed her eyes and if Keith wasn't sweating before, he definitely was now. Had he crossed a line this time?  
"You made food?"  
"No! My buddy works in catering, he always has leftovers and he brought extra today- lots of parties in the run-up to Christmas, you know?"

"I'm Jewish."  
"Oh," Keith said. "...well it's all vegetarian, so that's kosher, right?"  
Fuck, he had no idea what that meant, and she was looking at him like he'd grown an extra head. The baby was keeping up a low level grumble, a small hand waving through the air to clumsily wipe at her own eyes where she was tucked up to Pidge.

"Look, I appreciate it, it's just not a great time, I got a video meeting in-" she glanced behind her- "Seventeen minutes, and I can't get her to stop fussing and nap, let alone even wash my hair... Look, just come in and put the boxes on the counter if you're gonna, OK?"

Keith followed her into the apartment, to the left into the kitchen area to put them down. "You can literally just heat everything in the microwave- it's easy eating, that's why I thought of you-" 

Pidge only seemed to be half-listening, swaying the infant and checking the astronomy themed clock on the wall.   
"Come on Peep, just half an hour, that's all I need from you."  
She turned around and seemed to suddenly really see that Keith was standing in her kitchen.   
"Could you- please, I'm desperate- could you just hold her? For five minutes while I rinse puke out of my hair?"  
Keith froze, hands still on the plastic boxes. 

"Uhh," He mumbled, and Pidge's face fell.   
"Sorry! Forget it- It's not fair to ask you to-"  
"No, it's fine! I'll do it, go- take a proper shower."

Pidge looked at him for a moment as though now unsure on her decision, then led him around the kitchen island to the couch in the living area.  
"Here," once he was sitting, she maneuvered a squirming child into both her arms, "you know how to hold her?"  
"My roommate has cousins and niblings coming out of his ears, I'm good."  
"Thought you didn't know much about babies?"  
"I hold 'em, then when they cry, I pass them back to mom." Keith said, and Pidge blew her bangs out of her face, then leaned in to pass her over. 

She was more solid than he had been expecting, soft weight inside a fluffy onesie. She kicked and whimpered at the change in arms, and Keith splayed his hand over her booty to hoist her further into his hold.   
"You good?" Pidge watched her baby wriggle, grumbling and clenching tiny fists. "She's fed and changed, and needs a nap so fingers crossed she should drop off-?"  
"Go- shower. I'm good here."  
"I'll be fast." Pidge promised and Keith nodded as she stood up and darted across the room and out. 

"Just you and me, I guess." Keith looked down at the baby. He'd always had trouble seeing it, when people said a newborn looked 'like their mom' or 'uncle Reggie', but she was definitely Pidge's. Tufts of dark brown hair curled around her scalp and when she screwed her face up she mirrored Pidge's own scowls of pain from that day in the elevator.

She was still waving her limbs and growling to herself and Keith chanced it and stood up, easing himself out of the couch with her.   
He remembered one of Lance's little cousins crying, absolutely squalling red-faced, until he'd been rocked back and forth by an aunt, maybe it would work here.

As he adjusted her so she was propped along his shoulder, head buried in his neck; the whine she was making began to stutter and taper off. He paced slowly, side to side around the apartment. 

Shiro described Keith as a minimalist, Lance called him a weirdo drifter, because other than his dad's old motorbike and his truck, he didn't really collect or keep much of anything. Lance had a lot of personal effects, but kept them arranged methodically with an eye for decoration.  
He... didn't know how to describe Pidge's place. He wasn't expecting a new mom's apartment to be immaculate, but there seemed to be a lot of clutter and if there was an order to it he didn't understand it.

She didn't seem to be needing for anything- there was a large box of diapers taking up a corner of the room with a changing bag perched on top. Above it the wall housed a television and sound system, discs scattered alongside mugs on the coffee table. Shelves stacked with CDs and books, the couch had been cozy when he sat on it. 

There seemed to be a different pack of wet wipes everywhere he looked. Pans and plates piled up by the sink and there was laundry thrown in a chair.  
A photo frame on a bookshelf cycled through photos- a guy who must be The Brother, judging by the colour of his ponytail and their identical grins. A bull terrier in a harness on a hike. An older couple he assumed must be her parents.

There was no trace that anyone else lived in the apartment, he thought, then he realised the infant had gone quiet, snuffly breathing in his ear slow and deep, fists clenched in his clothes.  
"Guess it's just the two of you, huh Kid?" He said to her quietly. "Promise me you'll give your mom an easier time than I did mine." 

She just sighed and twitched in her sleep.

"Is she asleep?" Pidge's low voice startled him, but he managed not to call out and wake the baby.  
He turned to see her, hair wrapped in a towel and wearing a fresh green sweater and jeans combo. She looked better already, but her eyes were fixed on her sleeping baby.  
Keith just shrugged and smiled back at her, and she glanced at the clock again.   
"I've got a few minutes, I might be able to take her and put her down so you can get going..."

She'd just gotten opposite him to figure out how to pass her back over when something started beeping in the other room. Pidge swore under her breath and looked behind her to the door, then back at the baby.  
"The meeting?" Keith whispered, and Pidge nodded, wincing as Cass stirred at the beeping.   
"Go, I'll stay." He hissed. Pidge shook her head, chewing her lip and bouncing on her heels. She gave one final glance at the baby before almost leaping around the corner of the sofa to answer the call.

Cassie fidgeted again, grumbling but soon turned her head back into Keith's chest and fell silent.

He could faintly hear Pidge talking through the other room, though she must have had headphones on as he couldn't hear the responses to her dig at the meeting call coming early.

This wasn't so bad. He'd spent many a night awake on cold tiles at the clinic, offering the warmth and comfort of his lap to a sick dog or litter of orphaned kittens. He supposed this time around he didn't have to worry about her health, or trying to get fluids and medication into tiny bodies, and he was in a warm apartment on a squashy sofa. Big improvement, really.  
  


☆  
  


When Pidge returned she was tapping on a tablet with a smirk on her face. Keith leaned his head back over the top of the sofa and she lifted her tablet pen in greeting. Her hair was still damp, but already starting to curl up around her thoughtful face, and Keith realised this was another glimpse at the person Pidge was when not in the middle of labor or trying to juggle a newborn with a company that clearly wasn't giving her much breathing room. He liked how brusque she was, clever, blunt and sarcastic. So much confidence in such a small person. Pretty, too.

"Few more days and I'm free. I'll be on call for patching any bugs and glitches, but I'm pretty much done."

He flashed her a thumbs up which she returned with a half smile, then a glance at the packs of food still on the counter.  
Her lips were pursed, tapping them with the tablet pen, before she walked around the couch and sat on the arm of it opposite him.

"Look, Keith... I really appreciate everything, but... I don't know if you got some sort of preconceived notion in your head? I get it, I'm a single mom, maybe I'm struggling for basic necessities, maybe I'm easy-"  
"No! God, no!" Keith sat forwards carefully, mindful of the baby in his arms, and Pidge scooted down onto the sofa seats to take her from him. "Shit, I just remembered you saying you were busy. I'm sorry. You don't know anything about me; I should have thought of how this might look to you."

"I wouldn't say I know _nothing_..." Pidge said, letting the sleeping baby curl her fist around one finger as she scooched her properly into one arm. "Keith Kogane, thirty years old. Single, never married. You have a record- mostly petty shit like graffiti, theft, loitering, but never anything violent, or since your teens. Then you started volunteering at an animal shelter- either community service, or your parents put their foot down, I'm guessing. You changed it up, went straight. Started studying the sciences and worked your way up from scrubbing kennels to veterinarian at the nicest animal hospital in the county. Impressive, honestly."

Keith blinked. Holy shit. She'd said all that as casually as reading out the weekly weather forecast. Even the time Lance had set him up on a dating app as a prank -slash- attempt to help, he'd not managed to put in that much information.

"Jesus, Nancy Drew. Are you actually a PI?"  
"Software Engineer, but I'm good at getting the info I want. Most of that is public- newspapers and stuff. The 'volunteer to star-vet' thing is on your staff bio on your clinic's website. I looked you up as soon as I had my phone back. Had to make sure you weren't a crazy murderer specializing in eating babies."  
"I assure you I'm not," Keith tapped on his knee, "but I'm sorry I've made you uncomfortable." 

Pidge didn't respond, finally breaking the frankly intense eye contact to look down on the child in her arms.  
"It's not really... you just kinda spooked me today, showing up at my door. Gotta be careful, you know? I'm on my own here."

Keith nodded, but before he even opened his mouth Pidge cut him off. "Don't ask. He's gone, and he's not coming back. That's all you need to know."   
She didn't look up as she spoke, running one thumb over soft knuckles and the other along a little pajama-ed thigh.

Keith had never really given a lot of thought to children. He was happy to chug along as he was. His work was demanding- he'd sacrificed a lot of social time to study, and then earn his way up to his current position, but he loved it. His friends were few but all special to him, even Lance. Yet he tried to imagine being shown a tiny pink, snuffling, innocent life like the one in front of him, imagine being told it was his blood, and rejecting it. 

It baffled him, honestly.

"Thank you, for the food, though I wouldn't recommend bringing more over for a while."  
Keith's head snapped up to look at Pidge. Had he really blown it that hard?  
"It's fine! I just mean that when my leave starts, I'm going to stay with my parents for Christmas. I won't be here."  
"I thought you said you were Jewish?"

  
"My mom will take any opportunity to force her kids into ugly sweaters for pictures. Hanukkah, Christmas, Solar Eclipse, though the photos didn't come out so well that time." Pidge grinned and Keith scoffed.  
"I seriously can't tell if you're joking or not."  
"I like to keep an air of mystery around my life."

"You're kinda weird. No offense though- all my friends are weird."  
Pidge huffed a little laugh. "I'm too tired to be mad. I already know I'm weird."

"I'd like that though. If we could be friends." Keith said in a rush. He felt like a kid again, on the playground looking for someone to spend the lunch hour with. But he couldn't just keep showing up on her doorstep- making idle chat in supermarkets. He had to be upfront here.

"Oh." Pidge blinked. Was she actually turning pink? She didn't respond further, simply sucking on her lip and staring at him as if frozen by his words. His own face felt warm and suddenly his last sentence was ringing in his ears and making him want to shrivel into the couch cushions. Why the hell had he said that? Pidge still wasn't talking, so he braced his hands on his knees to stand up.

"Sorry, that was awkward. I'll, uh. I'll go. Enjoy the food."  
He crossed the living space towards the door, mentally punching himself in the face.  
"Wait. Keith." 

Keith turned, handle on the door. Pidge had gotten up, the baby nestling into her sweater where she was tucked up close.  
"I'm not great. At friend stuff." Pidge started, faltering over her words. "You know any... friend stuff we did I'd need to bring her, right?"  
"I'm cool with that." Keith said truthfully. "We've already got a rap going." 

  
Pidge snickered, "I'd like to be friends too, Keith."  
"That's great- I mean, you should enjoy your leave, see your family, but you know.. When you get back if you wanted to hang out... You have my number?"  
"Guess I do."  
"Great."  
"Cool."

  
They both tapered off, nodding and Pidge smiled again.  
"I'll call when I get back, then."  
"Great. I'll see you then... Do I say Merry Christmas, or Happy Hanukkah?"  
Pidge laughed again. "Bye, Keith."

☆

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact, vegetarian =/= kosher! But Keith doesn't know that.  
> I love Jewish Holt headcanons, but also feel like the Holts would be a family that is interfaith, or just does Christmas anyway because why not? I had a friend in school that was very like Pidge, and her family did both too B)


End file.
